Well, we've arrived at Wimbledon, which means it won't be long before University Challenge is back on our screens. Naturally, I will post here about any developments on that front as they break.
But, for now, we've got Only Connect to worry about, and last night's match was the first between two teams who'd won their first match, and needed just one more win to be safe for the time being. Playing were the Celts (Beverley Downes, captain Huw Pritchard and David Pritchard), who defeated the Cartophiles in their initial face-off, and the Cat Lovers (Roger Johnson, captain Jim Crozier and Jean Upton), who won a good close match against the highly unlucky Corpuscles first time around. Those two losing teams subsequently played off, with the Cartophiles narrowly winning. But that's another story.
The first question, a picture question, went to the Celts, who identified a series of pictures related to the word 'strip'; cue an inevitable joke from VCM, who seems to have an obsession with drinking jokes. The music round also went to the Celts, who correctly identified a series of songs by groups with dog breeds in their names. The Cat Lovers weren't so lucky with their questions, which included a complex wordplay question about removing capitalised letters to form opposites. The Celts has a strong lead at the end of the round, 8-3.
The sequences round saw a welcome return by the old OC staple, the Greek alphabet. Neither team managed that question. The Cat Lovers had an unlucky miss on a question about the Mitford sisters, not realising there was a fifth that came in the middle. The Celts failed to pick up on the error. The Celts then managed to upset Trekkies everywhere, and annoy VCM as well, by failing to identify the sequence on a Star Trek question, though they did identify the fourth, which was enough for the point.
Going into the Walls, the Celts had a big lead of 12-4. Still plenty of time for the Cat Lovers to pull it back; they managed two groups on their Wall, and three connections, for a total of five. But the Celts got all four groups, and narrowly missed out on a clean sweep by missing one of the connections. This still got them seven points, and gave them a lead of 19-9 going into Missing Vowels.
The Cat Lovers needed to dominate this round if they stood any chance, but they couldn't manage it; all in all, it was an evenly split round. Highlight of the round was 'band names overlapped with authors', which included 'REM Forster'; the Cat Lovers lost a point on that one after getting the E and the R the wrong way around.
In the end, the Celts won comfortably, by 23-13, and got generous applause from their opponents. A deserved victory, and they're now safe for now, but the Cat Lovers could yet join them, provided they win their next match.
After a run of good close games, we were due a comfy win; but was this just a blip, or has the tide turned? We will find out next week, as the Francophiles play the Fell Walkers.
Tuesday, 25 June 2013
Tuesday, 18 June 2013
Only Connect: Series 7: Match 6 (Elimination Match): GPs vs Festival Fans
It surely says something about the standard of the teams this year that the biggest win so far this series has been by 6 points. Yesterday's match was yet another good close match between two good teams, and, again, that either had to go out without a win was a shame.
Returning last night were the GPs (Jo Durrant, Chris David and captain Mike Crowe), and the Festival Fans (Ed Dovey, Stewart McCartney and captain and UC alumnus Marianne Fairthorne). Both had lost by narrow margins in the first round.
The GPs kicked off with a picture round on items that share their names with pig meat products; good one. The Festival Fans later got the music round, on pop music acts with birds in their names, but couldn't work it out, giving the opposition a bonus. But the highlight of the round was when the Festival Fans took a full five, identifying a link between postcodes and chemical symbols after just one clue! The sort of thing that usually comes up on UC as a bonus set. This meant, at the end of the first round, they led by 7-5.
The sequences round saw a great picture round, on the drinks from Tubthumping! These question setters come up with some great stuff sometimes. In fact, all the questions in this round were answered correctly by one team or the other. But a question dropped by the GPs, which was picked up by the opposition, proved the difference, as the Festival Fans now led by 15-9 at the end of the round.
And then, continuing the good series showing, both teams swept the board on the Connecting Walls, both getting the maximum, and the GPs finishing theirs in less than a minute! VCM remarked that it was too easy! And, so, going into the final round, the gap remained the same, at 19-25. The GPs could still close the gap, and so nearly did, with a good final showing. But not quite enough, and, in the end, the Festival Fans won by 30-28. Like the Corpuscles last week, the GPs did not deserve to lose both their matches so narrowly. But the Festival Fans played well too, and, to be honest, probably deserved the win for that five-pointer in the first round alone!
So, that's the elimination matches out of the way. Next week, we begin the qualification matches, with the Celts vs the Cat Lovers.
Returning last night were the GPs (Jo Durrant, Chris David and captain Mike Crowe), and the Festival Fans (Ed Dovey, Stewart McCartney and captain and UC alumnus Marianne Fairthorne). Both had lost by narrow margins in the first round.
The GPs kicked off with a picture round on items that share their names with pig meat products; good one. The Festival Fans later got the music round, on pop music acts with birds in their names, but couldn't work it out, giving the opposition a bonus. But the highlight of the round was when the Festival Fans took a full five, identifying a link between postcodes and chemical symbols after just one clue! The sort of thing that usually comes up on UC as a bonus set. This meant, at the end of the first round, they led by 7-5.
The sequences round saw a great picture round, on the drinks from Tubthumping! These question setters come up with some great stuff sometimes. In fact, all the questions in this round were answered correctly by one team or the other. But a question dropped by the GPs, which was picked up by the opposition, proved the difference, as the Festival Fans now led by 15-9 at the end of the round.
And then, continuing the good series showing, both teams swept the board on the Connecting Walls, both getting the maximum, and the GPs finishing theirs in less than a minute! VCM remarked that it was too easy! And, so, going into the final round, the gap remained the same, at 19-25. The GPs could still close the gap, and so nearly did, with a good final showing. But not quite enough, and, in the end, the Festival Fans won by 30-28. Like the Corpuscles last week, the GPs did not deserve to lose both their matches so narrowly. But the Festival Fans played well too, and, to be honest, probably deserved the win for that five-pointer in the first round alone!
So, that's the elimination matches out of the way. Next week, we begin the qualification matches, with the Celts vs the Cat Lovers.
Tuesday, 11 June 2013
Only Connect: Series 7: Match 5 (Elimination Match): Corpuscles vs Cartophiles
Well, we've reached the elimination stage of the series. One of the two teams playing tonight would be leaving the contest, while the others would get a stay of execution.
Both of the teams had lost their first match by a narrow margin: the Corpuscles, Sam Kay, Paul Taylor and Seb Page, lost to the Cat Lovers by just one point in their first match, while the Cartophiles, Josh Mandel, Colin Kid and Mark Cooper, lost to the Celts by four.
It was a very high scoring contest, with both sides scoring strongly and convincingly. Highlight of the first two rounds was when the Cartophiles scored a full FIVE points, on a sequences question on the duration of a game of various sports. Another nice question was on the current idents of the four BBC channels, which, as a fan of British TV idents, was good to see. After the first two rounds, the Corpuscles led by 14-13.
Then, the Cartophiles got the upper hand again with a full ten on their wall, while the Corpuscles only managed five, thus resulting in them falling behind going into the final round. Once again, the two teams were really strongly matched. After a really strong final round, the teams were tied, 26-all!
A tie-breaker question, for captains only: 'SLNGNDTHNKSFRLLTHFSH'. Josh Mandel identified it as 'SO LONG AND THANKS FOR ALL THE FISH', and the Cartophiles had the win! A well deserved victory. But the Corpuscles totally did not deserve to go out in such a way; they lost by 1 point in their first match, and on a tie-break in their second. Very unlucky indeed.
So, next week the GPs play the Festival Fans, with the losers going home. Then, presumably, we meet the four initial winning teams again. We shall have to wait and see.
(Incidentally, my OC reviews are likely to stay this concise from now on)
Both of the teams had lost their first match by a narrow margin: the Corpuscles, Sam Kay, Paul Taylor and Seb Page, lost to the Cat Lovers by just one point in their first match, while the Cartophiles, Josh Mandel, Colin Kid and Mark Cooper, lost to the Celts by four.
It was a very high scoring contest, with both sides scoring strongly and convincingly. Highlight of the first two rounds was when the Cartophiles scored a full FIVE points, on a sequences question on the duration of a game of various sports. Another nice question was on the current idents of the four BBC channels, which, as a fan of British TV idents, was good to see. After the first two rounds, the Corpuscles led by 14-13.
Then, the Cartophiles got the upper hand again with a full ten on their wall, while the Corpuscles only managed five, thus resulting in them falling behind going into the final round. Once again, the two teams were really strongly matched. After a really strong final round, the teams were tied, 26-all!
A tie-breaker question, for captains only: 'SLNGNDTHNKSFRLLTHFSH'. Josh Mandel identified it as 'SO LONG AND THANKS FOR ALL THE FISH', and the Cartophiles had the win! A well deserved victory. But the Corpuscles totally did not deserve to go out in such a way; they lost by 1 point in their first match, and on a tie-break in their second. Very unlucky indeed.
So, next week the GPs play the Festival Fans, with the losers going home. Then, presumably, we meet the four initial winning teams again. We shall have to wait and see.
(Incidentally, my OC reviews are likely to stay this concise from now on)
Tuesday, 4 June 2013
Only Connect: Series 7: Match 4: General Practitioners vs Fell Walkers
Well, I think it's definitely safe to say now that the new format is justified, as all eight teams who have appeared this series, including the two from last night, have been fairly impressive. A good call by the production team there.
Playing last night were the General Practitioners, Jo Durrant, captain Mike Crowe and Chris David, and the Fell Walkers, Jim Taylor, captain Mike Amberry and Craig Almond. I am unaware of any previous quiz show appearances by any of the six, but I'm sure any will come up over on LAM should there be any.
OK, then, off we went again, with the GPs going first. The music round, on bands whose names derive from Latin, went to the Fell Walkers, which was apt as they had expressed interest in getting it earlier on. The Fell Walkers' second question had been previewed by the Radio Times earlier in the week as a good one: first clue was 'SURFEITED 4-8-9', which was followed by three similar phrases. The GPs managed to pick up a bonus by working out that there was a shorter word that meant the same thing hidden in the longer words that was spelt out by the hinted letters. Victoria described this as '[the] question setter at his evil best'; too right. The sort of fiendish thing you come to expect on OC.
At the end of the first round, it was 4-all. Going into the Sequences round, an unfortunate error by the GPs, who buzzed by mistake when they wanted another clue, cost them some points, but did not allow the opposition a chance to steal. Another question, on Met Office weather warning codes, was also dropped by both sides. The first points of the round came on the fourth question, when the GPs picked up a bonus from a question dropped by the opposition; the Fell Walkers subsequently did likewise.
It was a low scoring round, though both sides had some unlucky misses initially. The Fell Walkers now led by 7-5 going into the Walls round. And a great showing here, as both sides completed the Wall, and got all four connections, resulting in a full ten points each.
So, going into the final quickfire round, the Fell Walkers led by 17-15. Again, the two sides were evenly matched throughout the final round, but the Fell Walkers were slightly quicker on the buzzers, and thus, they managed to hold on to their lead. In the end, the Fell Walkers won by 28-22. But, again, a great showing by two fine teams, who both deserve another match one way or another.
So, next week, we begin to see teams again, as the Corpuscles take on the Cartophiles. I imagine the losing team will be heading home, while the winners get a third match, a la UC. Strange that they've decided to do the elimination matches first, if that's the case. But, no complaints about that; shouldn't be too different.
Playing last night were the General Practitioners, Jo Durrant, captain Mike Crowe and Chris David, and the Fell Walkers, Jim Taylor, captain Mike Amberry and Craig Almond. I am unaware of any previous quiz show appearances by any of the six, but I'm sure any will come up over on LAM should there be any.
OK, then, off we went again, with the GPs going first. The music round, on bands whose names derive from Latin, went to the Fell Walkers, which was apt as they had expressed interest in getting it earlier on. The Fell Walkers' second question had been previewed by the Radio Times earlier in the week as a good one: first clue was 'SURFEITED 4-8-9', which was followed by three similar phrases. The GPs managed to pick up a bonus by working out that there was a shorter word that meant the same thing hidden in the longer words that was spelt out by the hinted letters. Victoria described this as '[the] question setter at his evil best'; too right. The sort of fiendish thing you come to expect on OC.
At the end of the first round, it was 4-all. Going into the Sequences round, an unfortunate error by the GPs, who buzzed by mistake when they wanted another clue, cost them some points, but did not allow the opposition a chance to steal. Another question, on Met Office weather warning codes, was also dropped by both sides. The first points of the round came on the fourth question, when the GPs picked up a bonus from a question dropped by the opposition; the Fell Walkers subsequently did likewise.
It was a low scoring round, though both sides had some unlucky misses initially. The Fell Walkers now led by 7-5 going into the Walls round. And a great showing here, as both sides completed the Wall, and got all four connections, resulting in a full ten points each.
So, going into the final quickfire round, the Fell Walkers led by 17-15. Again, the two sides were evenly matched throughout the final round, but the Fell Walkers were slightly quicker on the buzzers, and thus, they managed to hold on to their lead. In the end, the Fell Walkers won by 28-22. But, again, a great showing by two fine teams, who both deserve another match one way or another.
So, next week, we begin to see teams again, as the Corpuscles take on the Cartophiles. I imagine the losing team will be heading home, while the winners get a third match, a la UC. Strange that they've decided to do the elimination matches first, if that's the case. But, no complaints about that; shouldn't be too different.
Tuesday, 28 May 2013
Only Connect: Series 7: Match 3: Francophiles vs Festival Fans
Not much on to watch yesterday evening, with most of the stuff I usually watch on Monday nights not on due to the Bank Holiday. Only Connect seemed to be the only usual thing that was still on.
Anyway, on to the show, and the two teams were the Francophiles, fans of all things French (except the language, leading to an awkward moment when VCM addressed them in it!), and the Festival Fans, who, as their name suggests, are frequent festival goers. The Francophiles were Ian Clark, Sam Goodyear and captain Mark Walton, while the Festival Fans comprised Ed Dovey, Stewart McCartney and captain Marianne Fairthorne. Some previous quiz pedigree here: Marianne Fairthorne represented the LSE on UC in 2008-09 (losing to Manchester in the QFs), and Dave Clark speculated over on LAM earlier that Ian Clark could be the same Ian Clark who reached the Brain of Britain final last year.
On with the first round, and the Francophiles went first, with a question on spotty things whose spots are different colours. The Festival Fans got the music round, on artists whose names begin with 'Mr'. The Francophiles had an unlucky miss on one of their questions, conceding a bonus to the opposition. But they made up for it with the picture round, on pictures relating to 'Liberty', getting the link after just two clues for three points. At the end of the round, the Festival Fans narrowly led 6-4.
On to the Sequences round, of which the first two questions were dropped. The two teams narrowly missed the first one, on phases of the moon, while the second, on successive line-ups of the Sugarbabes (ugh!) was totally missed by both sides. The Francophiles then had another unlucky miss on another question, misidentifying the sequence, and conceding another bonus. Again, though, they made up for it with three points on their third question. Unlike the past two weeks, there was just one picture question this round.
After that round, the Festival Fans narrowly led by 9-8. Going on to the Walls, the Festival Fans only managed two groups, but they did manage all four connections, which got them six points. The Francophiles managed to solve the Wall, and seemed rather shocked that they did! They got two of the connections, meaning they also got six points. This meant the Festival Fans retained the slender lead they'd had all game, by 15-14, going into the final round.
Once again, the Missing Vowels round was pretty even between the two teams, both of whom seemed to pick up points strongly; unless I'm mistaken, no penalties were incurred. In the end, the Francophiles managed to draw level, and then pull away into a slender lead in time for the end of the quiz. They'd done enough: the Francophiles won by 23-20.
Another good close match between two good teams who both deserve another match. As I said last week, the rule change has definitely been justified by the standard of this series' teams. The final initial face-off next week, unless I'm mistaken; will it be four out of four good matches? We'll have to wait and see.
Anyway, on to the show, and the two teams were the Francophiles, fans of all things French (except the language, leading to an awkward moment when VCM addressed them in it!), and the Festival Fans, who, as their name suggests, are frequent festival goers. The Francophiles were Ian Clark, Sam Goodyear and captain Mark Walton, while the Festival Fans comprised Ed Dovey, Stewart McCartney and captain Marianne Fairthorne. Some previous quiz pedigree here: Marianne Fairthorne represented the LSE on UC in 2008-09 (losing to Manchester in the QFs), and Dave Clark speculated over on LAM earlier that Ian Clark could be the same Ian Clark who reached the Brain of Britain final last year.
On with the first round, and the Francophiles went first, with a question on spotty things whose spots are different colours. The Festival Fans got the music round, on artists whose names begin with 'Mr'. The Francophiles had an unlucky miss on one of their questions, conceding a bonus to the opposition. But they made up for it with the picture round, on pictures relating to 'Liberty', getting the link after just two clues for three points. At the end of the round, the Festival Fans narrowly led 6-4.
On to the Sequences round, of which the first two questions were dropped. The two teams narrowly missed the first one, on phases of the moon, while the second, on successive line-ups of the Sugarbabes (ugh!) was totally missed by both sides. The Francophiles then had another unlucky miss on another question, misidentifying the sequence, and conceding another bonus. Again, though, they made up for it with three points on their third question. Unlike the past two weeks, there was just one picture question this round.
After that round, the Festival Fans narrowly led by 9-8. Going on to the Walls, the Festival Fans only managed two groups, but they did manage all four connections, which got them six points. The Francophiles managed to solve the Wall, and seemed rather shocked that they did! They got two of the connections, meaning they also got six points. This meant the Festival Fans retained the slender lead they'd had all game, by 15-14, going into the final round.
Once again, the Missing Vowels round was pretty even between the two teams, both of whom seemed to pick up points strongly; unless I'm mistaken, no penalties were incurred. In the end, the Francophiles managed to draw level, and then pull away into a slender lead in time for the end of the quiz. They'd done enough: the Francophiles won by 23-20.
Another good close match between two good teams who both deserve another match. As I said last week, the rule change has definitely been justified by the standard of this series' teams. The final initial face-off next week, unless I'm mistaken; will it be four out of four good matches? We'll have to wait and see.
Tuesday, 21 May 2013
Only Connect: Series 7: Match 2: Cartophiles vs Celts
OK, here we are at the second match of the series. And, after the close match to start the series, would we get a similar one this week? To my knowledge, none of the participants have been on other shows before, but do please correct me if I'm wrong.
Playing tonight were the Cartophiles, who were Colin Kidd, captain Josh Mandel and Mark Cooper, and the Celts, who were Beverley Downes, captain Huw Pritchard and David Pritchard. The Cartophiles were linked by an interest in maps, while the Celts are all graduates of the University of Wales who live in that nation. Victoria subsequently engaged in some Welsh dialogue with Huw!
Another deliberately complex explanation of the new rules preceded the start of the game. The Celts elected to go first. Among the question of the first round was an interesting one on women and how many years older they are than their husbands (eg Princess Anne +5). The dreaded music question went to the Celts, and they managed to identify that all the songs in question shared their names with films. Another amusing question began with what sounded like a line from the Modern Major General song, but the question was actually about malapropisms.
It was a good round for both teams, with the Cartophiles leading 7-6 going into the Sequences round. Another good round here, with the Celts identifying a sequence on winners of the Tour de France after just two clues. One of the two picture rounds (it seems that two picture questions in the sequences round is going to be a permanent thing now) showed a very odd sequence of coloured shapes; neither team managed to identify them as the aerials of the Teletubbies! Cue a huge laugh! If Only Connect has a studio audience, it would have been very loud indeed!
Going on to the Walls, the Celts now led 12-9. The Cartophiles went first, and managed to solve the wall, and only just slipping up on one of the connections, meaning they scored seven points. The Celts also managed to solve their wall, but they managed all four connections, which got them full marks of ten points! This also meant their lead now stood at 22-16 going into the final round.
Still a closeable gap, and all was to play for going into Missing Words. Both teams have a good showing here, with both picking up points consistently. In the end, the Celts just managed to maintain their lead, and won by 28-24. But a very impressive showing from both sides there, and both are worthy of another match.
So far then, I think we can say that the standard has been high enough to warrant this rule change. We'll see if that standard is maintained next week.
Playing tonight were the Cartophiles, who were Colin Kidd, captain Josh Mandel and Mark Cooper, and the Celts, who were Beverley Downes, captain Huw Pritchard and David Pritchard. The Cartophiles were linked by an interest in maps, while the Celts are all graduates of the University of Wales who live in that nation. Victoria subsequently engaged in some Welsh dialogue with Huw!
Another deliberately complex explanation of the new rules preceded the start of the game. The Celts elected to go first. Among the question of the first round was an interesting one on women and how many years older they are than their husbands (eg Princess Anne +5). The dreaded music question went to the Celts, and they managed to identify that all the songs in question shared their names with films. Another amusing question began with what sounded like a line from the Modern Major General song, but the question was actually about malapropisms.
It was a good round for both teams, with the Cartophiles leading 7-6 going into the Sequences round. Another good round here, with the Celts identifying a sequence on winners of the Tour de France after just two clues. One of the two picture rounds (it seems that two picture questions in the sequences round is going to be a permanent thing now) showed a very odd sequence of coloured shapes; neither team managed to identify them as the aerials of the Teletubbies! Cue a huge laugh! If Only Connect has a studio audience, it would have been very loud indeed!
Going on to the Walls, the Celts now led 12-9. The Cartophiles went first, and managed to solve the wall, and only just slipping up on one of the connections, meaning they scored seven points. The Celts also managed to solve their wall, but they managed all four connections, which got them full marks of ten points! This also meant their lead now stood at 22-16 going into the final round.
Still a closeable gap, and all was to play for going into Missing Words. Both teams have a good showing here, with both picking up points consistently. In the end, the Celts just managed to maintain their lead, and won by 28-24. But a very impressive showing from both sides there, and both are worthy of another match.
So far then, I think we can say that the standard has been high enough to warrant this rule change. We'll see if that standard is maintained next week.
Tuesday, 14 May 2013
Only Connect: Series 7: Match 1: Corpuscles vs Cat Lovers
Normally, this is the time of the year when we quiz commentators get a rest, as none of the major quizzes are on. And I was recently uncertain what I would cover on here until UC resumes in July. But Only Connect seems to have returned a few months earlier than usual, so, why not?
Two changes for the new series: firstly, Victoria Coren now calls herself 'Victoria Coren Mitchell', following her marriage to the perennial Internet favourite David Mitchell; secondly, and more importantly, the rules have changed! It seems the show has adopted a system similar/identical to UC's quarter-final rules, in that each team will play repeatedly until some go through to the semis. I hope this isn't due to what I said over on LAM last year about what a shame it is that the show is a straight knockout.
Anyway, playing last night were the Corpuscles, and the Cat Lovers.
The cleverly named Corpuscles are all graduates of Corpus Christi College Oxford, and all have represented the college on UC: Paul Taylor and Seb Page played in 2007, where their team were trounced by Edinburgh in Round 2, while captain Sam Kay, lest we forget, competed alongside Gail Trimble in 2009, helping the team to victory, only for them to be disqualified after it emerged he'd left by the time of the later stages.
Their opponents, the Cat Lovers, were Roger Johnson, Jean Upton, and captain Jim Crozier, were linked by their love of cats, unsurprisingly. I am not aware of any of them being on any shows before, but Dave Clark may let us know over on LAM later.
Anyway, off we went, and Victoria tried to explain the new rules to us, but eventually had to resort to a complex diagram, which may or may not have been a joke.
One thing that hadn't changed was the format: we began with Connections between four clues. The Corpuscles went first, and had an unlucky miss, opting for '5,000', when the answer needed was '10,000'. The Cat Lovers took the points. The much dreaded music round went to the Cat Lovers; neither them or their opponents spotted the connection, that all the bands playing share their names with high street retailers.
The Cat Lovers also got the picture round, on pictures connected to 'safety', including a still from Harold Lloyd's 'Safety Last'. Overall, the Cat Lovers had the best of the first round, leading 6-1 at the end.
And so, on we moved to the Sequences round, where the teams are shown all but the final clue, which they have to guess what it is. In a change to previous series, we seemed to have two picture rounds. The first of these went to the Corpuscles, who had another unlucky miss; the question was on rosettes given to horse race winners, and their colours, and they opted for the wrong colour.
A rather complicated question that went to the Cat Lovers turned out to be on a dart board: consecutive numbers, and what appears either side, for example 17: 3 and 2. Neither side got the fourth: 20: 5 and 1. Another question, the second picture one, saw the Corpuscles get the right answer, but the wrong reason (they still got the points), and get a lot of stick from Victoria for their wrong reason, including some after the next question had been asked!
The final question of the round, I should have got, and would have if I'd paid more attention: it was the first names of the male generations of the Simpsons! Still annoyed I missed that! The Cat Lovers got it, but the Corpuscles had had a good round too, and had cut their deficit to 9-8.
On to the Connecting Walls, which are usually the hardest round of the show. The Cat Lovers struggled with theirs, only getting one group within the time limit, but getting a couple of bonuses for unsolved groups; they came away with 4 points. The Corpuscles did better, getting all four groups, and two of the connections. This got them six points, and was enough to give them a narrow lead of 14-13, going into the final round.
As usual, we finished with Missing Vowels. This was really closely fought by both sides, both of whom buzzed strongly, and answered well. However, another very unlucky miss for the Corpuscles, who answered 'Clockwork Orange' instead of 'A Clockwork Orange', cost them a point, and gave the opposition a pretty easy point. This proved crucial, as, at the end of the show, the Cat Lovers had the victory, by 18-17.
A very good performance their by both sides, both of whom deserve to play again. It's a good thing they've introduced this new format, as it would've been rather unfair on the Corpuscles, who were a good team and had a few unlucky misses, to go out so soon. We'll see how this new format unfolds in later weeks, before we draw any definite conclusions on it.
Two changes for the new series: firstly, Victoria Coren now calls herself 'Victoria Coren Mitchell', following her marriage to the perennial Internet favourite David Mitchell; secondly, and more importantly, the rules have changed! It seems the show has adopted a system similar/identical to UC's quarter-final rules, in that each team will play repeatedly until some go through to the semis. I hope this isn't due to what I said over on LAM last year about what a shame it is that the show is a straight knockout.
Anyway, playing last night were the Corpuscles, and the Cat Lovers.
The cleverly named Corpuscles are all graduates of Corpus Christi College Oxford, and all have represented the college on UC: Paul Taylor and Seb Page played in 2007, where their team were trounced by Edinburgh in Round 2, while captain Sam Kay, lest we forget, competed alongside Gail Trimble in 2009, helping the team to victory, only for them to be disqualified after it emerged he'd left by the time of the later stages.
Their opponents, the Cat Lovers, were Roger Johnson, Jean Upton, and captain Jim Crozier, were linked by their love of cats, unsurprisingly. I am not aware of any of them being on any shows before, but Dave Clark may let us know over on LAM later.
Anyway, off we went, and Victoria tried to explain the new rules to us, but eventually had to resort to a complex diagram, which may or may not have been a joke.
One thing that hadn't changed was the format: we began with Connections between four clues. The Corpuscles went first, and had an unlucky miss, opting for '5,000', when the answer needed was '10,000'. The Cat Lovers took the points. The much dreaded music round went to the Cat Lovers; neither them or their opponents spotted the connection, that all the bands playing share their names with high street retailers.
The Cat Lovers also got the picture round, on pictures connected to 'safety', including a still from Harold Lloyd's 'Safety Last'. Overall, the Cat Lovers had the best of the first round, leading 6-1 at the end.
And so, on we moved to the Sequences round, where the teams are shown all but the final clue, which they have to guess what it is. In a change to previous series, we seemed to have two picture rounds. The first of these went to the Corpuscles, who had another unlucky miss; the question was on rosettes given to horse race winners, and their colours, and they opted for the wrong colour.
A rather complicated question that went to the Cat Lovers turned out to be on a dart board: consecutive numbers, and what appears either side, for example 17: 3 and 2. Neither side got the fourth: 20: 5 and 1. Another question, the second picture one, saw the Corpuscles get the right answer, but the wrong reason (they still got the points), and get a lot of stick from Victoria for their wrong reason, including some after the next question had been asked!
The final question of the round, I should have got, and would have if I'd paid more attention: it was the first names of the male generations of the Simpsons! Still annoyed I missed that! The Cat Lovers got it, but the Corpuscles had had a good round too, and had cut their deficit to 9-8.
On to the Connecting Walls, which are usually the hardest round of the show. The Cat Lovers struggled with theirs, only getting one group within the time limit, but getting a couple of bonuses for unsolved groups; they came away with 4 points. The Corpuscles did better, getting all four groups, and two of the connections. This got them six points, and was enough to give them a narrow lead of 14-13, going into the final round.
As usual, we finished with Missing Vowels. This was really closely fought by both sides, both of whom buzzed strongly, and answered well. However, another very unlucky miss for the Corpuscles, who answered 'Clockwork Orange' instead of 'A Clockwork Orange', cost them a point, and gave the opposition a pretty easy point. This proved crucial, as, at the end of the show, the Cat Lovers had the victory, by 18-17.
A very good performance their by both sides, both of whom deserve to play again. It's a good thing they've introduced this new format, as it would've been rather unfair on the Corpuscles, who were a good team and had a few unlucky misses, to go out so soon. We'll see how this new format unfolds in later weeks, before we draw any definite conclusions on it.
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